Two North Shore teams claimed Lower Mainland senior girls titles last week, one with a string of stirring comebacks and another with show of sheer strength.
In AAA action the Argyle Pipers played cardiac kids, falling behind in the quarterfinals, semifinals and final but battling back to claim victory each time.
In the quarterfinals against New West, the Pipers were losing throughout the contest, only catching up in the last minutes to earn a 52-47 win. With a trip to the final on the line, Argyle again trailed, coming back from a 15-point deficit in the second half to beat Churchill 60-57 in the semifinals.
“We hit some huge shots down the stretch,” said coach Anthony Beyrouti. “That was a crazy tough game.”
In the final against Richmond’s McMath secondary the Pipers trailed by one at halftime but exploded in the third quarter, outscoring their opponent 34-10 in the 10-minute frame on their way to a comfortable 80-53 win.
“We really played our best basketball of the year,” Beyrouti said of the team’s second half surge, adding that the Pipers weren’t known for their strong finishes throughout the season.
“We bucked the trend – we’re usually not very good in the third quarter,” he said. “The third quarter is where we often fall apart. We made a concerted effort to play better defence in the third quarter and really got some better looks out of it – our defence really led to some offence and that led to our success.”
Beyrouti laughed when asked if he made any magical changes to the team’s halftime routine that led to the late-game heroics at Lower Mainlands.
“A lot of people asked me that. No – I think the kids understood what was going on and they understood that there was no more time – they had to step it up. They were really focused and motivated for that game. We dedicated our season to getting our seniors back to provincials – we hadn’t been in a couple of years at Argyle, so it was something that we focused on. The kids really took care of business and got it done. … We told them ‘this has got to be it, you have to step it up right now.’ And they rose to the challenge.”
Georgia Swant, playing with a sprained finger on her shooting hand, still racked up 26 points in the final on her way to earning tournament MVP honours, while first-team all-star Sierra Schefer poured in 36 points in the final to earn player of the game honours. Argyle’s Chloe Walton also earned all-star status, as did Carson Graham’s Tanis Metcalfe and Alex Walker and Handsworth’s Emily Wood.
Argyle will head to the provincial AAA championships, running March 1-4 at Langley Events Centre, as one of the top-ranked teams, while Carson Graham also earned a berth by finishing third at the Lower Mainland championships. They’ll both be chasing gold against the best teams in B.C., including top-ranked Oak Bay as well as Fraser Valley dynamos Abbotsford and Brookswood.
At the AA level the Seycove Seyhawks, last year’s provincial runners up, continued their quest to return to the championship game. At the Lower Mainland championships, hosted by Seycove, the Seyhawks blasted Notre Dame 96-34 in the quarterfinals and then beat Little Flower Academy 82-58 in the semis. In the final against Britannia the Seyhawks soared to a 14-point lead at halftime but in the second half the Vancouver school battled back, tying the game midway through the fourth. Last-minute free throws from star centre Sage Stobbart sealed the 78-74 win for the Seyhawks.
Kayla Krug was named the tournament MVP while Stephanie Laube earned the award for defensive player of the tournament. Stobbart and Lindsey Bott earned first-team all-star awards while Windsor’s Devon Wood was named a first all-star and Madison Legault earned second-team status. Windsor earned a trip to a wild card game this week to attempt to book their spot in the provincial championships.
Seycove will head into the AA provincial tournament, also running March 1-4 in Langley, as the No. 1-ranked team in the province.
